Right now you are staring at a computer screen. At any moment you could click away from this blog post to Facebook, that half watched YouTube video, or one of the multiple tabs you have open at the top of your browser. Your computer speakers hums smooth melodious rhythms as Spotify plays your customized playlist entitled "Best of Ted Nugent" Your phone, which is charging on your desk next to you, vibrates. You check it. It wasn't a text. You are sad. Words with Friends is reminding you that you have games that can still be played. You are consuming copious amounts of content all while sitting in your house, your fortress. Your mind is clouded by the constant stream of information. Did I like the six paragraph post that my neurotic aunt tagged me in? Have I already seen this compilation of obese animals falling down stairs? Didn't I just play "Scab" for 18 points?
Advertisers have made it their goal to break through not only the muddled mess of media you consume, but also the in-numerous advertisements that go along with it. How can they make an ad that will catch your attention, keep your attention, and make you want to buy their product? There is no sure way to accomplish even one of these goals, so advertisers have thrown everything they can think of at the wall to see what sticks. There have been some intriguing attempts to get people to pay attention to the ads they've worked oh so hard on. Advertisers have known for a while that making an ad that seems like it's trying to sell you something tend not to resonate with consumers. The ads that stick in peoples' heads are the ones that entertain. It's been recently that those ad men on Madison Ave realized that the best way to make entertaining ads is hire people who entertain. Most notably, well known film directors have been commissioned to make advertisements for companies. Since these are the people who make films that millions of people flock to, they must know how to entertain.
What's really interesting is the directors that have been commissioned. You would expect someone like Guy Ritchie who makes fast-paced blockbusters to be enlisted. He can make a fun ad that doesn't feel like an ad but more like a film. But along with blockbuster film makers, many avant-garde and art house film makers have been chosen as well. At first it seems strange to select directors who's films often repulse or bore the public, but these kinds of directors appeal to a certain intangible element that a Guy Ritchie couldn't. Many art films are experience based, sacrificing conventional forms of plot and character in order to create a more visceral and ethereal experience. Advertisers eat this kind storytelling and imagery up because they have become less focused on selling a physical product, instead selling feelings and ideas. Andy Spade said that ads should communicate,"... to another level beyond the logical level," which have led to filmmakers such as Wes Anderson, David Lynch, and Harmony Korine creating advertising campaigns for famous brands. Their ads don't tell you what the product does, but they show you what the product feels like.
As for how these purported artists cope with selling their souls to big corporations, David Lynch sums it up perfectly.
Whether or not these kinds of ads resonate with people is unbeknownst to me, but they certainly do stand out. That's gotta count for something. Hopefully.
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